By Professor Greg Craven
AS Christmas rushes towards us at astonishing speed, I would like to extend my best wishes for a happy and holy Christmas to you on behalf of all of us at Australian Catholic University.
The year 2014 has been a busy one for everyone at the university.
It was a year of partnerships and strengthening relationships to grow our Catholic family. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Notre Dame Australia, in which we agreed to deepen the co-operation, collaboration and mutual support between our two institutions.
We also made an agreement with the Archdiocese of Adelaide to deliver theological education in South Australia this year, at what is now the university’s seventh campus.
It was a year of recognising eminent members of the international Catholic community. Among those to be awarded ACU’s highest honour – Doctor of the University – were Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, the former Holy See diplomat Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Prefect for the Economy Cardinal George Pell, and the much loved Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
It was a year of sporting achievement. ACU students competed at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, trained in Jamaica with Usain Bolt and captained the Australian women’s cricket team.
It was a year of travel.
ACU students went on exchange at more than 60 partner institutions around the world. They taught soccer to children in East Timor, volunteered in Cambodian health clinics and worked with the world’s oldest welfare organisation in Florence.
It was a year for research.
ACU has concentrated its research expansion in the four broad focus areas of education, theology and philosophy, health, and the pursuit of the common good – areas in which the Church is actively engaged.
We launched seven new research institutes which are already working on a mind-boggling range of studies – everything from how to make our police officers more resilient, to how sport can help young men tackle illness, and whether climate change contributed to the Mayan collapse. Researchers at ACU also received seven Australian Research Council grants – making it the university’s best year for funding success.
It was a year in which ACU graduates continued to excel and leave their mark.
Our graduates were accepted into Cambridge University to study philosophy, deployed to Afghanistan to serve as military chaplains, and contributed to their individual communities in countless ways, both large and small.
We also farewelled our former Chancellor Sir Peter Cosgrove, who was appointed Governor-General of Australia, and welcomed former New South Wales Premier John Fahey to the position.
ACU continues to go from strength to strength, but none of it would be possible without our dedicated staff, stakeholders, students and graduates.
I thank you all for your involvement and faith in the university.
I wish you and your families all the best for the Christmas season and a happy and safe holiday.
Professor Greg Craven is Vice-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University.
